Bracket



Oct. 25, 1938. vl VENDOPE 2,134,270 y BRACKET Filed Jan. 23, 1956@ww-Mofa Patented Oct. 25, 1938 UNITED STATES van L. vendope, nanas,Tex., assigner of thirtythree and one-third per cent to Richard Burdickand thirty-three and one-third per cent to Arthur S. Baron, both ofDallas, Tex.y y

Application January 23, 193s, senai'Na-sosl 3 Claims.

This invention relates to new and usefulimprovements in brackets. Oneobject of the invention is to provide an improved bracket which-isparticularly adapted for use in supporting the usual Lumiline lamp.

An important object of the invention isto provide an improved bracketwhich is arranged to be attached to the ordinary Lumiline lamp withoutchanging the structure of said lamp, whereby the lamp may be connectedwith the ordinary electrical outlet terminal, the bracket serving notonly as a support but also' as an electrical/connector, which eliminatesthe necesbracket for illuminating the lamp.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved bracket for aLumiline lamp which is so constructed that a plurality of "Lumilinelamps can be placed in longitudinal alignment and electrically connectedto a plurality of the usual electric sign receptacles or outletterminals, the bracket being adjustable vso that the connection may bereadily made, irrespective of' the position or location of thereceptacles.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved bracket fora Lumiline lamp, which bracket is secured to the usual removable caps ofsaid lamp, whereby the lamp may be inserted between or removed from thecaps without disturbing the bracket.

A construction designed to carry out the. lnvention will be hereinafterdescribed, together with other features of the invention.

The invention will be more readily understood from a reading of thefollowing specification and -by reference to the accompanying drawing,in which an example of the'invention is shown, and wherein:

Figurel is an isometric viewof an ordinary Lumiline lamp having abracket, constructed in accordance with the invention, attached thereto,

l Figure 2 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section, andshowingthe bracket engaged in the usual electrical outlet terminal,

Figure 3 Vis an enlarged isometric view offone end ofthe lamp andbracket, A

Figure 4'is a diagrammatical view showing a 5o plurality of the Lumilinelamps in longitudinal alignmentand theconnection by the brackets withthe usual outlet terminals,

Figure 5 is an elevation showing how the Lumiline lamps may be employedin forming Y 55 a letter in an electric sign,

sity of employing a separate specially constructed' (ci. 17a-32s) yFiguren` is a,'view` similar to Figure 4, and

showing a modified form of bracket, and

Figure 7 is a transverse, sectional view taken through one of the capsarid showing another4 f way of securing the'bars to the caps.

` In the drawing,the numeral I0 designates an ordinary Lumiline lampsuch as is manufactured and sold by the Generall Electric Company.'I'his'lamp is cylindrical, being tube-like, and is made in standardYlengths of 12 and 18 vinches. 10 Each end of the lamp has a metallicterminal Il which is formed with a central recess l2.

A ilanged insulating cap `I3 isadapted to lit over each terminal andthis cap is` provided with an annular spring contact i4. When the capis15 placed over the terminal, the contact I4 frictionally engages Vthewall of the recess |2S'With a releasable snap-fastener eiect/to hold thecap on the end of the lamp, and also to make electrical contact with theterminal. A metallicear 20 orlug VI5 of electrical conductivity'extendsoutwardly from one side of each capand this lug is preferably madeintegral Withthe contact I l. All of thev above described parts are ofstandard manufacture'and form no part ofthe present 25 invention.v I'heyhave been described merelyfor the sake of clarity. y Y

It is the usual practice to provide with each Lumiline lamp, a speciallycnstructed base (not shown). This base has spring clips which v30 haveelectrical lead wires connected therewith, and the spring clips arearranged to receive the metallic lugs or ears I5. The base may besecured to a Wall, or other' suitable place. It is not only expensive tomanufacture a base vi'or 35 each lamp but it is impossible toelectrically connect the lamp proper with the usual outlet terminal suchas an attachment plug outlet, or signreceptacle. Therefore, the lampl'cannot be used unlessfthe specially constructed base'is pro- 40 vided.f A Y -In carrying out the invention, a Ybracket I6 which not onlyserves asa support for the lamp, but also may be inserted in the usualelectrical attachment plug outlet, whereby the lamp may be connectedwith s'aid outlet, isk provided. 'I'he bracket includes a pair of atelectrical conductor bars l1. Each bar as shown has one end soldered, eor otherwise suitably secured, to the inner side of oneV of jthemetallic lugs I5 provided on the 50' other, whereby the prongs formedthereby are spaced from each other. The thickness of the bars I8, aswell as the spacing between the prongs is such that said prongs may beinserted in the usual pair of slots I9 of the female portion of anelectrical outlet attachment plug 20.

Since one end of each bar is connected with the lug I5 of one of thecaps ofthe lamp and the opposite end is inserted in the electricaloutlet attachment plug 20, it is obvious that the electrical current isconducted to the terminals I I of the lamp, whereby said lamp isilluminated when the plug is placed in an electrical outlet socket. Theelectrical conductor bars I1, which form the bracket, are covered with asuitable insulating material 2i such as rubber.

From the above, it will be seen that a cheap and inexpensive bracket, bywhich the Lumiline lamp may be directly connected with the ordinaryoutlet attachmen't plug is h`ad. The prongsA I8 of the bracket may bereadily inserted in, or removed from, the plug and, thus, attachment ordetachment of the lamp may be quickly accomplished. Since the arms ofthe bracket are rigidly secured to the lugs I5 which areran integralpart of the removable caps I3, it is obvious that the lamp I may beremoved from the caps without disturbing the bracket. Thus, if the lampburns out or if, for any reason, replacement is necessary, suchreplacement may be readily made. a

Although the bracket may be utilized for attaching the lamp to anyordinary outlet terminal, it has been found particularly useful inmounting the Lumiline lamps on electric signs. It is well known that thesign receptacles or outlet terminals of electric signs are not equallyspaced on all signs and usually they vary from to 8 inches apart.Lumiline lamps are made in standard lengths of 12 and 18 inches, landthus it will be seen that when the lamps are placed end to end inlongitudinal alignment-to form a portion of a letter, it is not possibleto position' the lamps so that a receptacle Awill be located directlymidway between the ends of each lamp'. The present invention, however,takes care of such contingency, as will be presently explained.

In Figure 4, three Lumiline lamps are shown placed end to end inlongitudinal alignment. The outlet receptacles or plugs A of the signare ordinarily spaced about 7 inches apart, and, therefore, it will beseen that it is impossible to space the lamps so that a receptacle islocated centrally with relation to each lamp. In such case, one of thearms I1 of the bracket of each lamp is shortened so as to reach thenearest receptacle. Thus, the prong of this arm is engaged in one of theslots of said receptacle to connect the lamp with one side of theelectrical circuit. The other arm Il of the bracket is of such length asto engage the receptacle nearest this end of the lamp,and its prongengages one slot of the nearest receptacle, whereby the circuit to thelamp is completed. It would be possible, however, to construct one armlonger than the other (Figure 6) so that the prongs of both bracketsengage the same receptacle. In such case, it is only necessary tolengthen one of the bars and shorten the other, and then bend said barsto form the prongs I8. With such arrangement, said prongs may be formedat any point along the length of the lamp, whereby the lamps may beplaced end to end, and electrically connected lto the present wiringsystems including outlets or receptacles, irrespective of the positionof said outlets or receptacles; It is noted that the bracket not onlyserves as a support for the lamp but forms the electrical conductor forconnecting the lamp with the outlets.

In Figure 7, another method of securing the bracket to the cap of eachlamp is shown. In this form, each bar I1 is hingedly secured by a pin orrivet 25 to the ear I5 of the cap, but with a suiiicient tightness tosupport the weight of the lamp, yet it is forcibly movable foradjustment. With such arrangement the lamp can be swung a limiteddistance with 4relation to the bracket, `so=that when several lamps arein align- Vment and any one lamp burns out, the burned out lamp may beswung out of alignment with the othersrto permit removal and replacementof said lamp.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A supporting bracket for an elongate tubular lamp including a pair ofarms similar in all f respects and designed to mate to form the bracket,each arm formed of flat stock having one end bent at right angles toform a flat prong to be inserted in an electric plug receptacle, itsother end being bent at right angles oppositely disposed tothe rstmentioned end and shaped to form an annular member adapted to engage oneend of said lamp, the construction being such the two arms, eachconnected to its respective' end of the .tubular lamp and having itsinner end posed to the rst mentioned end and shaped to form an annularmember provided with a spring tension for snapping in position on oneend of said lamp, the construction being such the two arms, eachconnected to its respective end of the tubular lamp and having its innerend inserted in an electric plug, mating to form the support for thelamp, and insulation on said arms between their ends.

3. A supporting bracket for an elongate tubular lamp of the type havinga metallic terminal having a central recess a't each end, consisting ofa pair of separate electricalcurrent conduct ing bars extending inopposite directions from each other, each bar at its outer end having arelatively short forwardly directed electrical terminal facing theterminal on the other bar and having contact means consisting of asubstantially l flat contact with projecting spring iingers frictionallyengaging the metallic terminals of the lamp, a cap of insulatingmaterial enclosing each of the electrical contact means on the bracketbars and the ends of the tubular lamp, whereby the lampl is supported bythe bars and'in close proximity thereto, and rearwardly directed flatcontactprongs on the adjacent inner ends of the bars to plug in anelectric outlet and thereby maintain the bars in their lamp supportingbracket formation.

VAN L. VENDOPE.

